I have for some years been aware of the fact that a Norwegian named Karel Hansen or Karel Hansen Toll was prominent in Schenectady, New York, and in wider circles, towards the end of the seventeenth and during the first third of the eighteenth century. In the hope that it might be possible to add to our scant knowledge of this man, I recently wrote to one of Karel Hansen's descendants on the mother's side, namely Dudley Toll Hill, editor of the Schenectady Gazette, and asked if there was any available printed material. Mr. Hill answered that he, in 1941, had published a book, Genealogy of the Toll Family (of Daniel and Simon) Branches, with Allied Families of the Former, Together with a Brief History of the Founder, Karel Hansen Toll. Another member of the family, Dr. Daniel J. Toll, had, in 1847, published A Narrative, Embracing the History of Two or Three of the First Settlers and Their Families, of Schenectady, Interspersed with a Few Anecdotal Eccentricities and Antiquities, Together with a Description of the Winter Evening Visits, Recreations, and Supper, and Strictures on the Change of Times. There were two other good primary sources: Jonathan Pearson's Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady from 166£ to 1800 (Albany, 1875); and John Sanders' Centennial Address to the Early History of Schenectady and Its First Settlers (Albany, 1879). All these volumes are to be found in the New York Public Library; Dr. Daniel J. Toll's Narrative is in the department for rare books.

No direct proof that Hansen was a Norwegian can be produced. Nothing definite is known of him before he appeared about 1680 in Albany and Schenectady, where he spent the remainder of his life. But the tradition in his family maintains
that he was a Norwegian, and when Dr. Toll, who in 1847 wrote his Narrative, asked his uncle where the ancestor came from, the uncle answered without hesitation that he came from Norway in Holland. To this Dr. Toll remarks that many of the Dutch immigrants had only the slightest knowledge of geography, and that it was natural for them to assume, when they heard that a man had come from Norway, that this place was in Holland. He adds that it is a settled point in philosophy that the larger element dominates the smaller, and that this also holds good for immigrants coming into a community in which they are outnumbered. Almost everything was turned into Dutch among those pioneers. It must likewise be remembered that the uncle referred to lived only forty, fifty, or sixty years after the ancestor; that is to say, at a time when the tradition still was strong and unimpaired. After having weighed the various points in the accessible material, Dr. Toll reaches the conclusion that Karel Hansen Toll was "absolutely and unequivocally" a Norwegian. As regards the name "Toll," the doctor, who is aware that it is to be found also in Sweden, Russia, and other countries, says that it is "conclusively Norwegian, although its origin might be Scandinavian.'' Ordinarily the name Karel Hansen was used, but in legal documents and mortgages Toll was always added. A receipt for salary in 1726, while Hansen was a member of the colonial legislature, shows that he then spelled his name Haensen.

There are indications, writes Dr. Toll, that Hansen was a seaman and was imprisoned in a fortress in Porto Cabello in South America. From this place he succeeded in getting away by swimming out to a ship in the harbor. This ship took him to New York. At this time he must have been twenty-five years old, as it is assumed that he was born about 1655. This was in 1680, and soon thereafter Hansen appeared in Schenectady, where, in 1683 or 1684, he was married to Elizabeth Rinckhout. He first lived at Hoffman's Ferry in Glenville, near Schenectady, and he advanced in "prosperity and honor." lie was an enterprising and energetic man, bought and sold real estate, operated a farm, sold grain, and was highly regarded in his community.
In 1684 he bought 40 acres of land from the authorities in Schenectady. Rachel, a sister of Hansen, was married in 1697 to Jeremiah Tickston. The latter's name is on the membership list of the Dutch Reformed church for 1699. In this church his daughter Eve or Neeltje Toll was married to Evert Van Eps. Among the Indians in the neighborhood of Schenectady, Hansen seems to have had the name of "Kin-ge-go," which means a fish. He is said to have acquired this name when the Indians heard of his long swim at the time he got away from the prison in Porto Cabello.

In 1712 Karel Hansen Toll sold a plot of land on the south side of Union Street, including the courthouse plot 100 by 200 feet, for 50 pounds sterling, and in the same year he bought 38 acres in Maalwyck for 400 pounds sterling. Here he made his home, and he or his son Daniel built in 1717 a solid house of stone, which was one of the best structures in the district. A drawing of this house is to be found in Dudley Toll Hill's book. Together with some other heirlooms a drawing of this original stone house is in the possession of the Schenectady County Society. It had stone walls twenty-four inches thick, and was torn down and rebuilt of wood in 1843. This house is now owned and occupied by Dudley Toll Hill, a descendant in direct line. In this same neighborhood, also Arnt the Noorman Bradt, who will be mentioned later in this article, had at one time some property. Besides his daughter who has already been mentioned, Hansen had three sons, Daniel, Simon, and Abraham. The last-mentioned had no children, but the two others formed each a branch of the Toll family which in course of time became quite large. Simon stayed on the property in Maalwyck, while Daniel, who had acquired the title of captain, received the father's real estate in Booken Dale or Popendaal, now Beukendaal. Daniel died in 1748 in a battle in Beukendaal with the Indians. His brother Simon commanded the colonists when they withdrew to the house in Beukendaal, where they held the Indians at bay until a troop of soldiers arrived.

One of Hansen's descendants, Johannes, studied theology at Union College in Schenectady in 1799 and later became a pastor
in the Dutch Reformed church. Karel Hansen Toll, a son of Simon, was adjutant in the Fourteenth New York Regiment in 1777 in the War of Independence. He was born in 1746 and lived until 1845. Many of the descendants, of whom several had the same name as their ancestor, are buried at the cemetery in Beukendaal, where a monument was erected in 1902 on the family plot.

It has been told of thc original Karel Hansen Toll that he, together with some others, in 1721 helped to erect a stockade as a protection against the Indians around Front, Washington, State, and Ferry streets; that is to say, around what then constituted Schenectady. Karel Hansen in 1714 was elected a member of the colonial or provincial legislature. He served in this capacity for twelve years, until 1726, and is regarded as the first Norwegian who sat in a lawmaking assembly in America. He died in 1757 or 1738.

It has been mentioned that Karel Hansen Toll possibly may have been born in this country of the parents, Hans Carelsen Toll (or Hans Carelsen Noorman) and his wife, Neeltje Cornelise Egmont, but this seems to be only an assumption. Karel Hansen Toll was not the first Norwegian of whom we have knowledge in the district about Albany and Schenectady. In his book, Genealogy of the Toll Family, Dudley Toll Hill mentions, among others, Arnt Andriese(n) Bradt as one of the original owners of the patent for the land in Schenectady. He is evidently not aware of the fact that Bradt also was a Norwegian, who came to New York in 1637 with his brother, Albert Andriessen Bradt. They came originally from Fredrikstad and are discussed at length in John O. Evjen's excellent book Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630-1674 (Minneapolis, 1916). Albert was a tobacco planter at Rensselaersville, and he also operated two sawmills at the small stream south of Schenectady known even today as Norman's Kill. It is Albert Andriesscn who lives in memory by this name.
{1}
Arnt was a tobacco planter, and his daughter married a Putnam. Evjen also mentions one Hans
Carelsen Noorman, who came from Norway and established himself as a fur trader in Beaverwyck. No children are mentioned. Beaverwyck is in the same neighborhood as Schenectady and Albany. As will be remembered, New Netherland and New Amsterdam had to surrender to the English in 1674, and Professor Evjen did not carry his researches beyond that year He therefore did not touch upon Karel Hansen Toll, who arrived in 1680.
{2}

Notes

<1> The author of this article has seen this name on a sign by the stream. "Years ago I often swam and fished in the Norman's Kill," writes Dudley Toll Hill.

<2> Members of the Toll family are now to be found in many parts of the country, writes Dudley Toll Hill to the author. One of them, Philip Ryley Toll, a son of the second Karel Hansen of the Beukendaal line (1746-1832), moved from Schenectady in the 1850's and settled in Wisconsin or Michigan. He owned much land in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He was a member of the Michigan territorial legislature and his son, Isaac DeGraff Toll, was a general in the Mexican War. He too was a member of the Michigan legislature. He lived in Petosky at the time of his death. Mr. Hill's grandfather, the second Philip Ryley Toll, a nephew of the first, for some years lived in those states and owned much property there, also in Illinois.

Contributors

DR. KENNETH BJØRK, professor of history at St. Olaf College, has been for the past year lecturer in Scandinavian and German history and "area" (study of present political, social, and economic institutions) in the University of Wisconsin ASTP unit for foreign language and area study. He is completing a study of Norwegian engineers in America.

The VERDANDI STUDY CLUB of Minneapolis has organized an unusual project -- the translation of America letters for the Norwegian-American Historical Association. In addition to the several documents that its members have translated for the present volume, they are preparing a lengthy series of letters that will be brought out in book form. The club is made up of women interested in Norwegian and Norwegian-American history and culture.

DR. C. A. CLAUSEN, head of the department of history at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, has recently been connected with the Scandinavian section of the ASTP at the University of Wisconsin and is now with the Office of Strategic Services in Washington.

CARL O. PAULSON taught English at Augsburg College from 1940 to 1942 and is now in England serving with a hospital unit.' He has in course of preparation a translation of the reminiscences of his grandfather, Ole Paulson, a pioneer pastor who was a soldier in Sibley's expedition of 1863 against the Sioux Indians and who played an important role in the early history of Augsburg College and Seminary.

THEODORE C. BLEGEN, editor of the publications of the Norwegian-American Association since 1925, is dean of the graduate school in the University of Minnesota. He has spent the year 1943--44 as director of the Historical Service Board in Washington, D. C.

LIEUTENANT ARLOW W. ANDERSEN, now an instructor at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, a pre-flight training center of the Army Air Corps, taught history and mathematics for several years in the Evanston Collegiate Institute. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota who carried on advanced studies at Northwestern University, from which he received the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1942.

MISS CLARA JACOBSON was born near Decorah, Iowa, and lived in the Perry parsonage from 1868 to 1878. For many years she was engaged in both public and parochial school work. Miss Jacobson has contributed to earlier volumes in this series. She now lives in the Lyngblomsten Home in St. Paul.

DR. HALVDAN KOHT, the well-known Norwegian historian, who now lives in Washington, D. C., was a contributor to volume 18 of the present series. With Dr. Sigmund Skard he has recently brought out through the Columbia University Press a book entitled The Voice of Norway.

PROFESSOR BERT H. NARVESON taught at Luther Academy, Albert Lea, Minnesota, from 1922 to 1928, and since doing graduate study at the University of Michigan, has been teaching Latin and Greek at St. Olaf College. At present he is also teaching navigation in the Navy Air Flight Preparatory School.

MR. JACOB HODNEFIELD, who in this volume contributes the tenth of a series of bibliographical reports, is curator of newspapers in the Minnesota Historical Society.

DR. A. N. RYGG, formerly editor and part owner of Nordisk Tidende in Brooklyn, New York, holds the honorary degree of LL.D. from St. Olaf College. He is the author of the volume Norwegians in New York, 1825-1925.

VOLUME I. Minneapolis, 1926. 175 p. "Health Conditions and the Practice of Medicine among the Early Norwegian Settlers, 1825-1865," by Knut Gjerset and Ludvig Hektoen; "The Norwegian Quakers of 1825," by Henry J. Cadbury; "Bishop Jacob Neumann's Word of Admonition to the Peasants," translated and edited by Gunnar J. Malmin; Reiersen's contemporary account of "Norwegians in the West in 1844," translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen; Cock-Jensen's "An Emigrant Voyage in the Fifties," translated and edited by Karen Larsen; Carl F. Solberg's "Reminiscences of a Pioneer Editor," edited by Albert O. Barton. Price $2.00

VOLUME. II. Northfield, Minnesota, 1927. 137 p. "Norwegian Emigrant Songs," translated and edited by Martin B. Ruud; "Four Immigrant Shiploads of 1836 and 1837," by Henry J. Cadbury; "Immigration as Viewed by a Norwegian-American Farmer in 1869," a letter translated and edited by Jacob Hodnefield; "The Norwegian Pioneer in the Field of American Scholarship," by Laurence M. Larson; "Norwegian Language and Literature in American Universities," by George T. Flom; "Norwegian-American Church History," by George M. Stephenson. Price $2.00

VOLUME III. Northfield, Minnesota, 1928. 133 p. "The Disillusionment of an Immigrant: Sjur Jørgensen Haaeim's 'Information on Conditions in North America,'" translated and edited by Gunnar J. Malmin; "A Doctrinaire Idealist: Hans Barlien," by D. G. Ristad; "Norwegian-American Emigration Societies of the Forties and Fifties," by Albert O. Barton; "Emigration as Viewed by a Norwegian Student of Agriculture in 1850: A. Budde's ' From a Letter about America,'" translated by A. Sophie Bøe, with an introduction by Theodore C. Blegen; "An Immigration Journey to America in 1854," a letter translated and edited by Henrietta Larson; "Chicago as Viewed by a Norwegian Immigrant in 1864,"a letter translated and edited by Brynjolf J. Hovde; "The Historical Value of Church Records," by J. Magnus Rohne; "A Norwegian-American Landnamsman: Ole S. Gjerset," by Knut Gjerset; "The Icelandic Communities in America: Cultural Backgrounds and Early Settlements," by Thorstina Jackson. Price $2.00

VOLUME IV. Northfield, Minnesota, 1929. 159 p. "A Contribution to the Study of the Adjustment of a Pioneer Pastor to American Conditions: Laur. Larsen, 1857-1880," by Karen Larsen; "Report of the Annual Meeting of the Haugeaan Churches Held at Lisbon, Illinois, in June, 1854," translated and edited by J. Magnus Rohne; "The Attitude of the United States toward Norway in the Crisis of 1905," by H. Fred Swansen; "Immigration and Social Amelioration,'' by Joseph Sehafer; "The Mind of the Scandinavian Immigrant," by George M. Stephenson; "Three Civil War Letters from 1862," translated and edited by Brynjolf J. Horde; "The Sinking of the 'Atlantic' on Lake Erie," a letter translated and edited by Henrietta Larson; "An Account of a Journey to California in 1852," by Tosten Kittelsen Stabæk, translated by Einar I. Haugen. Price $2.00

VOLUME V. Northfield, Minnesota, 1930. 152 p. "An Early Norwegian Fur Trader of the Canadian Northwest," by Hjalmar R. Holand; "Immigrant Women and the American Frontier," three early "America letters" translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen; "From New York to Wisconsin in 1844," by Johan Gasmann, translated and edited by Carlton C. Qualey; "Social and Economic Aspects of Pioneering as Illustrated in Goodhue County, Minnesota," by Theodore Nydahl; "Norwegian-American Fiction, 1880-1928," by Aagot D. Hoidahl; "Bjørnson and the Norwegian-Americans, 1880-81," by Arthur C. Paulson; "The Beginnings of St. Olaf College," by I. F. Grose; "Some Recent Publications relating to Norwegian-American History," compiled by Jacob Hodnefield. Price $2.00

VOLUME, VIII. Northfield, Minnesota, 1984. 176 p. "Tellef Grundysen and the Beginnings of Norwegian-American Fiction," by Laurence M. Larson; "The Seventeenth of May in Mid-Atlantic: Ole Rynning's Emigrant Song," translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen and Martin B. Ruud; "Johannes Nordboe and Norwegian Immigration: An 'America Letter' of 1837," edited by Arne Odd Johnsen; "The First Norwegian Migration into Texas: Four 'America Letters,'" translated and edited by Lyder L. Unstad; "Norwegian-Americans and Wisconsin Polities in the Forties," by Bayrd Still; "The Emigrant Journey in the Fifties," by Karl E. Erickson, edited by Albert O. Barton; "The Political Position of Emigranten in the Election of 1852: A Documentary Article," by Harold M. Tolo; "The Editorial Policy of Skandinaven, 1900-1903," by Agnes M. Larson; "Some Recent Publications relating to Norwegian-American History, IV," compiled by Jacob Hodnefield; "Fort Thompson in the Eighties: A Communication.'' Price $2.00

VOLUME XIV. Northfield, Minnesota, 1944. 264 p. "A Migration of Skills," by Kenneth Bjørk; "An Immigrant Exploration of the Middle West in 1839," a letter by Johannes Johansen and Søren Bache, translated by the Verdandi Study Club; "An Immigrant Shipload of 1840," by C. A. Clausen; "Behind the Scenes of Emigration: a Series of Letters from the 1840's," by Johan R. Reiersen, translated by Carl O. Paulson and the Verdandi Study Club, edited by Theodore C. Blegen; "The Ballad of Oleana: a Verse Translation," by Theodore C. Blegen; "Knud Langeland Pioneer Editor," by Arlow W. Andersen; "Memories from Perry Parsonage," by Clara Jacobson; "When America Called for Immigrants," by Halvdan Koht; "The Norwegian Lutheran Academies," by B. H. Narveson; "Pioneering on the Technical Front; a Story Told in America Letters," by Kenneth Bjørk; "Some Recent Publications relating to Norwegian-American History, X," by Jacob Hodnefield; Notes and Documents: "Karel Hansen Toll," by A. N. Rygg. Price $2.00

TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION SERIES

VOLUME I. Ole Rynning's True Account of America. Translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen. Minneapolis, 1926. 100 p. Contains historical introduction; original text of Rynning's book about America as published in Norway in 1858; and a complete English translation. Price $1.00

VOLUME II. Peter Testman's Account of His Experiences in North America. Translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen. Northfield, Minnesota, 1927. 60 p. Contains historical introduction; facsimile of Testman's account of America as published in Norway in 1889; and a complete English translation. Price $1.00

VOLUME III. America in the Forties: The Letters of Ole Munch Ræder. Translated and edited by Gunnar J. Malmin. Published for the Norwegian-American Historical Association by the University of Minnesota Press, 1929 244 p. Contains a series of informal travel letters written in 1847 and 1848 by Ole Munch Ræder, a Norwegian scholar, who was sent by his government to America to make a study of the jury system. These letters, describing his experiences and recording his observations, were given contemporary publication in Den norske rigstidende, a newspaper of Christiania, Norway, and are now brought together in an English translation under the supplied title, "America in the Forties."
Price, paper, $2.00; cloth, $2.50

SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS

Norwegian Sailors on the Great Lakes: A Study in the History of American Inland

Transportation. By Knut Gjerset. Northfield, Minnesota, 1928. 211 p. Contains eight chapters: Introduction; Early Conditions and Some Norwegian Pioneer Sailors and Captains in Lake Michigan Ports; Shipowners and Shipbuilders; The Ascendancy of Sailing Vessels; A Period of Transition; Duluth and Superior; Lake Captains in the Period of the Ascendancy of Sailing Vessels and Later; Lake Captains in Active Service. Price $2.50

Norwegian Migration to America, 1825-1860. By Theodore C. Blegen. Northfield, Minnesota, 1931. 413 p. Contains sixteen chapters: Introduction; The Genesis of the Movement; The Beginning of Western Settlement; Ole Rynning and the "America Book "; The Spread of Western Settlement; Rising Emigration and Westward Expansion; Emigration Causes and Controversy; Southern Colonization and the Western Settlements; Early "America Letters"; The Norwegian Government and the Early Emigration; "America Books" and Frontier Social and Economic Conditions; Emigrant Gold-Seekers; Oleana: A Colonization Project in Pennsylvania; Emigrant Songs and Poems; Currents and Cross Currents of the Fifties; On the Eve of the Civil War; and an appendix: "Sloop Folk" Problems. Price $3.50

Norwegian Sailors in American Waters: A Study in the History of Maritime Activity on the Eastern Seaboard. By Knut Gjerset. Northfield, Minnesota, 1933. 271 p. Contains twelve chapters: Early Traders and Voyagers; Norse Discoveries in the West; The Era of National and Maritime Decline; The Period of the White Sails; Norwegian Sailors in the Steamship Era; Norwegian-American Yachting Sailors; Fisheries and Fishermen; Norwegian Pilots, Ship Chandlers, Shipbuilders, and Ship Brokers; Life and Labor at Sea: Andrew Furuseth and the Seamen's Act of 1915; Religious and Social Work among Norwegian Seamen in America; Norwegian Seamen in the United States Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard Service; General Observations. Price $2.50

The Civil War Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Edited by Theodore C. Blegen. Northfield, Minnesota, 1936. 260 p. Contains a biographical essay by the editor and six chapters: From Madison to Island No. 10; In Camp and on the March; From Iuka to Perryville; The Battle of Murfreesboro; Camp Life near Murfreesboro; The Chickamauga Campaign. Price $2.50

Laur. Larsen: Pioneer College President. By Karen Larsen. Northfield, Minnesota, 1936. 358 p. Contains seventeen chapters: Family and Childhood; Kristiania Days; A Pioneer Parsonage; The Frontier Missionary; Called to New Work; Professor at Concordia College; Luther College Born in Storm and Stress; Building the College; Formative Years after the War; With Friends and Family; A Leader in the Church; From Latin School to Liberal Arts College; As the Students Saw Him; The Home in the Old College; The College President of the Nineties; A Norwegian-American; Finishing His Work; and a bibliographical note.

Price $3.00

The Changing West and Other Essays. By Laurence M. Larson. Northfield, Minnesota, 1937. 180 p. Contains eight essays: The Changing West; The Norwegian Element in the Field of American Scholarship; The Convention Riot at Benson Grove, Iowa, in 1876; Teller Grundysen and the Beginnings of Norwegian-American Fiction; The Norwegian Element in the Northwest; Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen; "Skandinaven, Professor Anderson, and the Yankee School "; The Lay Preacher in Pioneer Times. Price $2.50

The Log Book of a Young Immigrant. By Laurence M. Larson. Northfield, Minnesota, 1939. 318 p. The narrative presented in this volume is the story of an American immigrant, born in Norway, who came to the United States as a boy, knew pioneer life on the Iowa prairies, and rose through his own efforts to become a distinguished scholar and author, the head of the history department in a great university, and the president of the American Historical Association. Price $8.00

Norwegian Migration to America: The American Transition. By Theodore C. Blegen. Northfield, Minnesota, 1940. 655p. Contains eighteen chapters: From Old World to New; Frontier Ordeal; Language and Immigrant Transition; The Religious Impulse and the American Churches; The Emerging Church; Aspects of Everyday Life; Pioneer Folkways; The Immigrant and the Common School; Launching an Immigrant Press; The Press and Immigrant Life; New World Sailors; Canadian Interlude; The Era of the Civil War; The Slavery Controversy and the Church; People in Dispersion; Changing Frontiers; The Problem of Higher Education; Frontiers of Culture; and an appendix: John Quincy Adams and the Sloop "Restoration.'' Price $3.50

A SUGGESTION

A permanent endowment fund for the Norwegian-American Historical Association is being built up to insure the carrying on of the work that has been started. It is imperative that this fund should be increased generously and it is hoped that in not a few instances gifts and bequests will be made to the association for this purpose. The treasurer has suggested the following form of bequest:

Being in sympathy with the movement to preserve the records and make public the historical facts pertaining to the Norwegian-American people, I hereby give and bequeath unto the Norwegian-American Historical Association, incorporated under the laws of Minnesota, the sum of ............................... dollars, to be paid in due course of the administration of my estate.